Hardly Golden
by Sayosia
Summary: "I'm your worst nightmare that keeps getting better." LP


**AN: **I have resurfaced! So, sorry for the wait if there was any. I've been pursuing other things and, hopefully, improving my writing skill. To commemorate my return, I've decided to start fresh. So, to begin (and I'm only making this disclaimer once) the YW series belongs solely to Diane Duane, literary master. I take credit only for my OC Celeste. The end.

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><p>Celeste looked wildly about herself as she fell very suddenly into a dark street that was a mirror of her own. But how she'd gotten from inside her loft apartment to outside on a dingy street was completely beyond her.<p>

_And where have all the lights gone,_ she asked herself. Celeste stood, hissing at her stinging palms and knees. Man, when she fell, she _fell_. A faint chill of unease settled upon her as she straitened her blouse and jeans. This place... it seemed vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't seem to place it. It was just the gloom and the derelict skeletons that were once buildings. They triggered something in her mind, something from her younger days.

"_Celeste..."_ a voice whispered, seemingly from behind her. She spun around, red curls swinging over her shoulder, but there was no one there. Celeste took a few uncertain steps. Her sandaled feet barely made a sound on the dirty sidewalk, but even the little taps that sounded echoed off the empty buildings and sightless windows. The sound was deafening.

Unable to help herself, she shivered. _Huh, that's odd... I don't remember it being cold_. But cold it was. Not bone-chilling. No, it was more like light jacket weather. Still, when you come from seventy degree sunshine to sixty degree darkness... those ten degrees make a huge difference. On an impulse, Celeste looked up and instantly wished she hadn't.

It was just empty. Not night or day or cloudy. There were no stars, no moon, no sun... nothing. Celeste shivered again before turning to her building and trying the door. Perhaps someone in her building knew what was going on. But, try as she may, the door wouldn't budge. She knocked on it, only to hear the sound echo dismally inside. The building was as empty as the sky.

"Alright, this is really funny guys. Open up," she shouted at the door. No one answered, of course. "Fine," she muttered. "I'll just call the cops, then. They'll be able to get this all sorted out."

When Celeste pulled out her cell phone, though, she was brought up short. It wasn't displaying time or date. There wasn't even a symbol telling her that she didn't have service. She could still access her personal information, but all features that required internet or satellite has simply vanished. If she hadn't been panicking before, she certainly was now.

"Hello?" She called out. If there was anyone in the apartments, they would hear her with as silent as everything was. There was no sign of anyone. Celeste opened her mouth to call out again, but a sudden howl sounded nearby, cutting her off. It was picked up by five others, the eerie sound drawing closer.

Suddenly, Celeste had a flood of memories assaulting her. Flashes of when she was younger, in eighth grade. Images popped into her head of fantastic worlds and strange creatures, of wild adventures and travels that defied all rationality, of trees and rocks and animals and machines that could talk. She remembered walking in a city of nothing but light, a place called Timeheart.

And she remembered this place, and the terrible parody of existence that it was. Most importantly, though, she remembered what the creatures were that made the howls... perytons... and their master, the one who ran this place. The Destroyer of Worlds, the Kindler of Wildfires, Starsnuffer... he had many names, but the one she knew from her ordeal was Apollyon.

These memories made Celeste take off at a run, even if this was just a nightmare. She didn't see how it could be anything but a nightmare, as she'd given up her wizardry years ago. Nightmare or not, though, she didn't want the perytons to catch her. And she knew that they were coming for her.

As if in answer to her thoughts, the wolf-like creatures snarled. She could almost hear the way they would snap at her heels and see their all too human eyes that were full of nothing but vile hatred and anger. _Damn, I knew that if they caught you they'd be at your heels for eternity. I didn't think they could manage it even if they didn't get you, though_, Celeste thought as she ran as fast as she could, paying no heed to where her feet were carrying her. It was true... she'd almost been caught once, a long time ago, but luck would have it that she escaped. Even so, the memory of their putrid breath on her face still haunted her.

As she ran wildly down the streets, a ghostly chuckle came on a harsh wind that tore at her hair and blouse. However, Celeste had no time to wonder at the mysterious voice, for she heard another low growl coming from a different direction. She had just rounded the corner, the perytons a block behind her, and now there was a new threat coming around the corner at the other end of the street. She paused just long enough to see a yellow cab before she took off at a dead run right towards it. There was no time to run the other way, because of the perytons. Her only hope now lay in either getting into one of the buildings or escaping down an alley.

Celeste tried every door of every blasted building that she could get close enough to without slowing down, but none of them would budge. So when she tried the revolving door of the building at the middle of the street, she expected to die there. The cabs and the perytons had her cornered. However, when she threw herself at it, the thing moved just enough that she was safe from the perytons. The cabs were forced to a screeching halt, but she knew that they would just back up and come flying through the door at her.

Her heart pounded wildly in her chest and she couldn't still her trembling. Celeste did manage to muster the last of her strength, though, and push the revolving door enough for her to squeeze into the building.

And wouldn't you know it, instead of more darkness she was instead assailed by simple, white, fluorescent light.

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><p><strong>Coming Up: <strong>Celeste comes face to face with the Lone Power and is forced to face her past. An offer is made which is hard to refuse. Someone finds love.


End file.
